Sunday, 20 December 2015

quantum mechanics - Entanglement and simultaneity



According to the special theory of relativity, distant simultaneity depends on the observer's reference frame.


And, according to the quantum theory, in the case of two entangled particles, a measure on one of the particles simultaneously affects the second one. Under which reference frame is this simultaneous?



Answer



It doesn't really matter, because the phrase "simultaneously affects the other particle" is misleading.


Let's suppose you have a pair of totally anticorrelated photons. You measure one of them, then you'll know the outcome of the other one. The phrase "the measurement simultaneously affects the other particle" is not physical, because until you actually measure the other particle, you can't even notice anything different. There is no "effect". The only thing we can meaningfully talk about is the two measurements of the two particles. Now, depending on the reference frame, one will come before the other (or they are simultaneous) and whatever we measure, one result will imply the other.


This is why I think that the term "the particle simultaneously affects the other particle" is not very good, because it implies something like an active link - but depending on the reference frame particle A would affect particle B or the other way round. There is no "one particle affecting the other". Only if you are in a specified reference frame, it looks like there is an immediate influence of one particle on another.


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